Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Dropkick Murphys - Going Out in Style [D - Mainstream]

Hello, it's Joseph Schultz again and today I'll be reviewing "Going Out in Style" by the Dropkick Murphys.


I still don't know anything about music so I still can't be trusted, but neither can any of MTV's 400 new channels, so really, what do you have to lose?

First I'd like to touch upon their last album, "The Meanest of Times".  Now maybe it's because I'm a bit of a wuss, but I didn't really like it all that much; it sort of felt like they were just yelling at me the whole time.  Now don't get me wrong, angry songs are cool and all, but only when you've got a real reason to be angry.  With the exception of "Loyal to No One", a song that I really liked, the whole album felt like it was being angry for the sake of being angry, which to me is just silly.


See? That's silly.  Now fortunately, "Going Out.." didn't feel like that, the songs were more varied in their sound and, uh, intensity, and it reminded me a lot of "Black-Out", which is a good thing.  Also, because I said "a lot" this is all I can think of...  Sorry...


Okay, cool, now that that is out of the way we can continue.
So, basically, here's a comparison of my feelings between this album and "The Meanest of Times".


Speaks for itself, really.  While this album felt, well, good, "The Meanest..." was kind of a letdown.  I only really liked one song on that one, but a handful of tracks really stood out to me on "Going Out..." "Climbing a Chair to Bed", "Broken Hymns" and "Take 'em Down" all really struck me as great, though that might partially come from how much I like their use of banjo and/or mandolin.

Remember, I know jack-shit about music, so it could be one or the other.

Alrighty, so in the end I suppose I really did like this album quite a lot.  Some songs were fast, others were slow, but just about all of them were pretty good.  A solid 4 out of 5, YO.


here's a fun review video to go along with this:

Cerebral Ballzy - Self Titled LP [C - Underground]

Tonight I'm reviewing Cerebral Ballzy's Self Titled LP


It's available on Williams Street records (owned by Cartoon Network's [adult swim])

This brash hardcore punk act from Brooklyn, NY gets on the ball right away.  They never really drift away from the rapid fire, almost sex pistols-esque vocal delivery.  The first song is one of the slower numbers... oh wait never mind...  They don't exactly ever slow down!  Lot's of power chord shredding and anger-filled lyrics are thrown in your face from start to finish.

"Don't Tell Me What to Do" is probably the most stand out track on this album.  It's a number than tells the tale of any daily punker's life... "Don't tell me what to do!  Not at all!  Not at all!  Don't tell me what to do!  Standing tall!  I'm standing tall!"... aside from that anthemic song there's "Junky For Her" which comes in second for my favorite song from the album.  That song thrashes hard.  If you go to this youtube page there are videos for a few of their songs...

The rest of the album is full of thrashing and pissed off vocals.  I still can't believe by looking at this guy that this voice is coming out of him.  I honestly pictured a white teenager from the UK with a red mohawk with his tone and inflection.  This album overall is a good hardcore punk album.  It's great if you're a hardcore punx...  The riffs are fun and the album goes by quick enough that it'll keep the attention of any punk fan aged 13-23.

Hey, if this is your thing then it's perfect... but for me?  It's fun energetic but overall I'd give it about a generous 3/5.  It's definitely good for a few listens as a casual punk enthusiast.  The record really makes me want to grab a skateboard, some graffiti and grind up the city.

Stay in school, kids.


here's the review video (Done in a parking lot.)


Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Cee Lo Green - The Lady Killer [C - Mainstream]

My Name is... Not important...


Cee Lo Green is pumping some genuine soul back into the airwaves.  With a very amusing introduction we jump right into one of the best pop albums to kick off this decade.  Sounding like a mix of Michael Jackson, Prince and some Robbie Williams-esque strings...  The first actual song on the record is a solid pop number....

When we arrive at track #3 we're presented with the smash hit "FUCK YOU!", a great song.  Fairly offensive... But I feel it is very appropriate to our time and this generation.  Hey, they're just words!  Chill...  The next songs are smooth as butter, the performances are excellent and the lyrics never fall flat.
I really appreciate the generation jumps this record takes stylistically...  some things have that 1950's/60's R&B/Blues roots vibe mixed up with some hip hop beats.  A lot of the horn work and backup vocals resemble Motown/STAX favorites.  The guest vocals by Lauren Bennett and Phillip Bailey are equally impressive.

The "Lady Killer Theme (Outro)" caught me by surprise, since I didn't look at the track listing previously I wasn't prepared for what this song held...  The drumbeat came in and I thought this was going to be like an OutKast song like "BOB"  oh and just like  that the song was over?!...  Very short and no lyrics I was honestly hoping Big Boi would drop in and give us a big rap session or story/rant about society...  But nay, I was left with just that... a very upbeat instrumental.
There was a bit of a James Bond/Spy movie kind of feeling throughout the record and Joseph pointed out to me.  It is a very cool record.

Overall I would give this a very strong 4/5.  It is an excellent album.

Favorite tracks?  "Fuck You", "Bright Lights" and "It's OK"

Cee Lo has solidified himself as a pop-star,  I really enjoyed his appearance recently on American Dad the other day even though the episode was ridiculously silly and come on...  He was a freakin Hot Tub.  I'm expecting more great things in the future from mr. Thomas Callaway aka Cee Lo.


here's the review


Monday, October 3, 2011

Bad Religion - The Dissent of Man [B - Mainstream/Punk] (Guest review by Joey Schultz!)

Hello, I'm Joseph Michael Schultz and I'll be reviewing "The Dissent of Man" by Bad Religion!



I'm not a musician and I don't know anything about music, but I like the album.  Look, I even drew you a picture:


You, and you know who you are.  Now ain't that a beaut?

Really, I actually did like the album quite a lot.  Perhaps not as much as I liked "New Maps of Hell", but I still thought it was a really good record.  And for a contrast there I can show you how I felt about both albums...

This is,  uh... how I felt about "New Maps of Hell" (Not Dark Ages!):


And this is how I felt about "Dissent of Man":


I feel like that explains everything crystal clear.  There's no confusion there whatsoever.  Uh, I did like one more than the other [New Maps of Hell], but I still feel that both were really good.  They still held that kinda same feel to them, they're all really well-produced now.  The sound is really good and the tracks are actually longer than 2 minutes now...  Which is cool, as opposed to having like 17 songs on an album that's 16 minutes long, but that's a little mean so I'm not gonna do [say] that.

I think my favorite track on the whole album is "Wrong Way Kids", that's.... that's really good.  I probably can't exactly tell you why it's my favorite because I'm not a musician, I just think it sounded good.  Isn't that fair enough?  As a whole  I feel that it met my expectations well, especially since I didn't have it until 3 months after it came out because my computer was absolutely full and I couldn't put anymore music on it whatsoever.
So everybody was just telling me, "Yeah, the album was really good, you should definitely listen to it"  So as a whole I'd say it was really good.  It wasn't as good as my favorite, but if everything was as good as our favorites there wouldn't really be favorites... and the world would be boring.

I give this album 4/5

Hope you enjoy it yourself!...


here's the review video: